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Roy Halladay's approach was an example for all of us, even here on the Corner

The press box loved Roy Halladay, but not because the eight-time all-star gave great quotes.

He didn’t. In post-game media scrums, the Blue Jays’ longtime ace often gave away words the way he did bases on balls: sparingly.

Roy Halladay taught us the value of being economical. (KEVIN FRAYER / The Canadian Press)

But those of us who wrote for daily outlets knew a Halladay outing meant a lot of strikes, few baserunners and even less scoring, factors that combine for a short night. If you’re the type of scribe who likes to hit the pub as quickly as possible after the last pitch, Halladay helped you out. Doc’s brisk games also lent precious extra minutes to scribes wrestling with tight deadlines, enough time to catch typos or prune the superfluous words cluttering your copy.

Roy Halladay didn’t make us better writers, but every fifth day he gave us a chance. And for any writer willing to follow his example, Halladay set one with his intense dedication to his craft.

He certainly didn’t help us out with attention-grabbing sound bites. The most revealing quotes about Halladay came from the people around him.

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“He’s different from the first time I faced him, but the first time I faced him he was no slouch,” former Jays catcher John Buck said in a 2011 interview. “I don’t know if he’s improving or just constantly making adjustments. I don’t know how you can improve when you’re already the best.”

For all his success, Halladay didn’t talk much about his commitment to improving. Instead he demonstrated it, and embodied the first lesson many of us learn about good writing.

Show, don’t tell.

The early-morning workouts that became part of the folklore surrounding Halladay were very real, but when a Star staffer gained clearance to photograph a session, the pitcher had him ushered out of the gym anyway.

When the Jays traded Halladay to the Phillies in late 2009, he arrived in Philadelphia with a full arsenal of pitches, but still resolved to add two more to his repertoire. In 2010, his new curveball and changeup helped power him to his second career Cy Young Award.

And where other pitchers might want a night’s sleep before prepping for their next outing, Halladay would start that process shortly after leaving the mound. Teammates would routinely see him after a game he had just pitched with an ice pack on his shoulder and his laptop open, studying his next opponent.

Halladay’s obsessive preparation helped transform him into one of the most precise pitchers of his generation. He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio four times in his 16-year career, and three times posted the fewest walks per nine innings. He recorded 200 or more strikeouts five times, but those totals are a function of accuracy more than intent. Halladay pitched to contact, preferring quick groundouts to labour-intensive strikeouts.

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It’s an economy writers and pitchers share. Express a thought in fewer words and your writing improves. Retire batters in fewer pitches and you can pitch more innings.

Halladay averaged nearly 251 innings pitched in the four years he led the league in that category; Chris Sale led the majors this year with 214. Halladay also recorded seven or more complete games every season from 2007 to 2011; this year no pitcher logged more than five.

Consistency, efficiency and durability became pillars of Halladay’s professional identity, and inseparable from his habits. Veteran pitcher Jose Contreras, a teammate of Halladay’s in Philadelphia, figured it out quickly.

“I’ve never seen anyone better,” he said in a 2011 interview. “I always tell other (relievers), if you want to learn about pitching, talk to (Halladay) and do what he does.”

Writers, too.

Plagiarism is a fireable offence in our business, but Halladay’s dedication to his vocation is worth copying.

Dedication to craft is also something Halladay shared with legendary Star sports columnist Jim (Chester) Proudfoot. During a 49-year career, Proudfoot covered dozens of Grey Cups, and Stanley Cups, and Canada’s Summit Series in 1972; he also won a National Newspaper Award for his coverage of the death of jockey Dan Beckon. Yet one of his most lasting contributions to the Star was his annual gentle chiding of the broader sports community to donate to the Star’s Santa Claus Fund, which is dedicated to supplying gift boxes to underprivileged children at holiday time. What he called The Sportsmen’s Corner was renamed Proudfoot Corner when Chester died in 2001.

On the Corner: We’re happy to welcome Elaine Tanner and John Watt back for another year. Canada’s Mighty Mouse of swimming, Elaine collected medals at the ’66 Commonwealth Games, ’67 Pan American Games, and ’68 summer Olympics. She received the Order of Canada in addition to other awards, and even inspired a new one named for herself: The Elaine Tanner Award, given to Canada’s junior female athlete each year. Elaine and John sent in their $200 from Oakville in loving memory of John’s Balmy Beach Blues hockey pals Eddie (Scooter) Caterer and John (Jocko) Thomson.

Also hopping back on the Corner for the kids is Gordon Day of Etobicoke with a sizeable $250 donation. And joining him with a hundred each are familiar friends Ian Marr of Belwood, Michael Lavelle of Burlington, and Nelson Patterson of Etobicoke, who remembers former Canadian Sports Hall of Famer and Beaches boy Ted Reeve with his donation.

William Hartley of Uxbridge offered up $50 in honour of dauntless defenceman Carl Brewer, the local pride who laced up the Marlies and the Leafs in a career that lasted from the 1950s to 1980. Also with $50 donations are Vera Viron of North York, Mary Houston of Niagara Falls, Gladys Ellis of Toronto, and Lilian Strutt, also of T-Dot.

Rounding out the early bird list, Frank and Lynne Seifert of Brantford gifted a cool $125, Marilyn Bryer from Toronto sent us $150, and Elsie Krcel sent us down $25 from Richmond Hill. Festive five hundreds came from Mary Pedersen of Toronto and Roger Glazin of Stouffville. Finally, Judith Jenkins from here in Toronto kindly tendered us another $300. Keep it up!

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